Nearly three fashion seasons have passed since the British voted to leave
the European Union, with the industry suffering a much-documented decline
since that eponymous day in June 2016. Up until now that is.

According to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel, the UK fashion
retail sector saw growth of 0.2 per cent in the full year period ending
September 24, despite inflation, despite consumer ambivalence and despite
the changing faces of the retail industry.

Christmas 2017 to boost retail sales, Black Friday not

According to the Retail Gazette, the increase in sales was worth only 66
million pounds, but Kantar predicts it will continue improving as the
Christmas shopping season approaches. However, with 2016 Black Friday
fashion sales declining by 16 per cent year-on-year as many retailers
actively rejected the initiative in the lead-up to Christmas, Kantar warned
the industry to not to fall back into a “pattern of discounting for
discounting’s sake” if it wanted to see long term growth.

Consumers are buying fashion at full price

The latest figures also show that fashion items sold at full price are now
driving market growth – up two per cent year-on-year. Kantar said full
price sales contributed an additional 483 million pounds to the market
since this time last year, while discounting is down 2.7 per cent during
the same period with 98 million fewer units sold on promotion.

“For years we’ve seen heavy discounting and this created an atmosphere of
mistrust: consumers felt clothing wasn’t worth its full price,” Kantar
consumer insight director Glen Tooke said.

“Retailers have made a significant effort to address this by focusing on
getting the value right from the off and as a result shoppers have more
confidence in buying at the original price.
He added: “Retailers are finally recognising that most shoppers aren’t
after what’s ‘in season’ – partly because trends so often bear little
relation to the British weather – and larger ranges and a more flexible
approach to stock control are helping to break this cycle.”

Consumer buy more when they shop

“Consumers may be buying more every time they shop, but at the same time
they’re shopping less frequently – making two fewer visits per year on
average compared to 2015,” he said.
“For some time, retailers have been investing in improving the shopping
experience – tapping into the trend for more experiential purchases with
messaging around how fashion can contribute to a great night out or holiday.

“However, as consumers’ appetite for innovation grows, retailers need to
keep thinking of new ways to stand out from the crowd.”

Kantar’s figures on the fashion sector, which covers clothing, footwear and
accessories, comes a day after the Office for National Statistics revealed
that overall retail sales volumes fell 0.8 per month-on-month in September.

According to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, September saw UK retail
sales increase by 1.9 percent on a like-for-like basis from September 2016,
when they had increased 0.4 percent from the preceding year.

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive British Retail Consortium stated:
September saw a second consecutive month of relatively good sales growth
which should indicate welcome news for retailers and the economy alike.
Looking beneath the surface though, we see that much of this growth is
being driven by price increases filtering through, particularly in food and
clothing, which were the highest performing product categories for the
month. Retailers have worked hard to keep a lid on price rises following
the depreciation of the pound.

Photo credit: City of London skyline, Wikipedia Commons; article source
The Retail Gazette